What If...
What if... It's a simple question. But sometimes the simplest questions are the most dangerous. In this episode of Scattered Moments, we engage in a thought experiment: What if we actually believed the Bible—not merely as a book to study or defend, but as the living Word of God to be obeyed? What would change if Jesus' words about loving our enemies, serving the poor, forgiving freely, and going into the world became more than familiar verses? What would our churches look like? What would our...
What if...
It's a simple question.
But sometimes the simplest questions are the most dangerous.
In this episode of Scattered Moments, we engage in a thought experiment: What if we actually believed the Bible—not merely as a book to study or defend, but as the living Word of God to be obeyed?
What would change if Jesus' words about loving our enemies, serving the poor, forgiving freely, and going into the world became more than familiar verses? What would our churches look like? What would our neighborhoods notice? What might God do through ordinary believers who simply lived as though His Word were true?
This isn't a debate or a manifesto.
It's an invitation to imagine.
And perhaps, to begin.
Take heart. Notice the scattered moments. Share the grace.
Welcome to Scattered Moments. There is an idea that has been haunting me. Not because it is new, but because it is so old that I wonder if we've stopped hearing it. And the idea is simply this. What if we actually believed the Bible? Not believed it enough to defend it. Not believed it enough to quote it. Not believed it enough to win arguments with it. But believed it enough to obey it. That may be the most dangerous idea in the world. Because if the scriptures are truly the living word of God, then they are never content to remain on a bookshelf or inside a sermon. They insist on reshaping the ordinary rhythms of our lives. Jesus says, Love your enemies. Those are familiar words, perhaps too familiar. Just go with me on this. Imagine a church that became known not for defeating its enemies, but for loving them. Imagine people outside the church saying, I don't understand those Christians. They pray for the people who insult them, they forgive those who wound them. They actually love us. That would be dangerous. Jesus tells us that whatever we do for the least of these, we do for him. What if we actually believe that? What if every lonely widow, every hungry child, every forgotten prisoner, every frightened refugee, every exhausted single mother, every neighbor carrying invisible burdens was someone through whom Christ was quietly asking, Will you see me? Our budgets might change, our calendars might change, perhaps our hearts would change first. Jesus also told us to go, not merely to gather, not merely to build, not merely to become comfortable, to go toward brokenness, toward loneliness, toward people who have forgotten that anyone sees them. The church has always been at her most beautiful when she walked toward the world's pain instead of away from it. And perhaps that's what makes this idea so unsettling. The Bible refuses to let us settle into comfortable religion. It keeps pulling us outward, downward, toward humility, toward service, toward sacrifice, toward Christ. Sometimes I wonder if we've become experts at agreeing with Scripture while remaining beginners at surrendering to it. Maybe that's the greatest question of all, isn't it? Do I believe the Bible? Or maybe, maybe the better question is, would anyone know I believe it by the way I love? Because in the end, people may not first notice how carefully we defended the truth. They may first notice how faithfully we embodied it. The dangerous idea is not simply believing that the Bible is God's word. The dangerous idea is living like it is. Yeah, the danger is actually in the doing. Jesus once said, if you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. That's where you find the good stuff. That's where you find real spiritual awakening, not bigger preachers, bigger speakers, bigger budgets, prettier words, right politics, deeper theology, higher definition screens, better coffee bar, easier access to parking, better super slides at the conference centers. And yes, I'll go ahead and say it, better podcasts. No. I know on the surface this sounds really elementary, maybe even sound stupid, but I truly believe that the better Christ follower is the one that follows Christ best. One ever loving step at a time, one act of forgiveness, one quiet kindness, one unseen sacrifice, one enemy loved, one neighbor served, one disciple, one follower who is crazy enough to live it. May we be those people. May we take those red letters seriously and share the grace.
